Papers are invited for a Conference on Cultural History of Culinary Practices in the North Eastern India to be organized by the department of Humanities and social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Indi to be held on 25th and 26th August 2007 The proposed conference will be an attempt to bring forward a collective discussion on the cultural history of food in the north eastern region. It must be mentioned that food definitely occupies centrality in the North Eastern Indian cultural discourses. It has become customary to highlight in our political discussion to refer to the ‘exotic’ nature of food from this region. It will not be too difficult to find one who would abstain from expressing the desire to take an intellectual look into culinary exercises of the region. Moreover, colonial role did have an important rule in transforming the culinary taste of middle class. Till now no effort has been made to bring forward a collective discussion on the changing nature of food practices in historical perspective which is important to map the complex socio-cultural cosmology of culinary practices of the region. The proposed conference will focus mostly on the culinary practices since the medieval times. The primary focus of the conference will be on the cultural transformation of culinary practices during the colonial times and its social impact. This conference will also explore how different forms of stratification help define people’s attitude towards food selection, cooking and cuisine during that time. This focused discussion on the more recent changes in the culinary practices will enrich our understanding food and globalization. Some of key areas where we expect a focused discussion are Food and Pre-colonial/Colonial NE India, Food and History of Advertisement, Food and Literary practices; Beverages and Colonial Culture, Food and Aesthetics and Culture and Food as a social marker.
Interested participants may send abstract of their paper (not more than 250 words) before 30th March 2007. Please don’t forget to send your institutional affiliation and email address. We will be able to provide TA for a limited number of participants only and hence we will encourage the prospective participants to seek fund from their own sources. Accommodation will be provided to the participants in the institute guest house. Abstract may be send at this address:

Dr.Arupjyoti Saikia
Assistant Professor in History
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati
Assam
Ph: 91-361-2582564Email: culinaryconference@gmail.com

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